Operations

Creating a new project

You create a new project in the following way:

1. Select “New Project” from the File menu.

A dialog appears, listing a number of project templates, including any custom templates you may have created (see “Save as Template” on page 488).

2. Select a template and click OK.

A file dialog appears, allowing you to specify a location for the project folder. This will contain all files related to the project.

3. Select an existing folder or type the name of a new one. Click OK.

A Project window appears. The new project will be based on the selected template, and include tracks, events and settings from the template.

The Project Setup dialog

General settings for the project are made in the Project Setup dialog. This is opened by selecting “Project Setup…” from the Project menu.

The following settings are available in the Project Setup dialog:

Record Format/ When you record audio in Nuendo, the files that are creFile Type ated will be of this resolution and file type. See “Selecting

a recording file format” on page 67.

Setting Description

Stereo Pan Law Decides whether panning should use power compensation or not (see “About the “Stereo Pan Law” Preference (audio channels only)” on page 136).

While most Project Setup settings can be changed at any time, you should select a sample rate once and for all when starting with a new project! All audio files must be of this sample rate to play back correctly.

Zoom and view options

Zooming in the Project window is done according to the standard zoom techniques, with the following special notes:

•When you are using the Zoom tool (magnifying glass), the result depends on the option “Zoom Tool Standard Mode: Horizontal Zooming Only” in the Preferences (Edit- ing–Tools page).

If this is activated and you drag a selection rectangle with the Zoom tool, the window will only be zoomed horizontally (track height will not change). If the option is off, the window will be zoomed both horizontally and vertically.

•When using the vertical zoom sliders, the tracks are scaled relatively.

In other words, if you have made any individual track height adjustments (see below), the relative height differences are maintained.

You find the following options are available on the Zoom submenu on the Edit menu:

•If the option “Zoom while Locating in Time Scale” is activated in the Preferences (Transport page), you can also zoom by clicking in the main ruler and dragging up or down with the mouse button pressed.

Drag up to zoom out; drag down to zoom in.

•You can zoom the contents of parts and events vertically, using the waveform zoom slider in the top right corner of the event display.

This is useful when viewing quiet audio passages.

To get an approximate reading on the level of the audio events by viewing the waveforms, make sure this slider is all the way down. Otherwise, zoomed waveforms may be mistaken for clipped audio.

• If you activate the option Quick Zoom in the Preferences (Editing page), the contents of parts and events will not be continuously redrawn when you zoom manually.

Instead, the contents are redrawn once you have stopped changing the zoom – activate this if screen redraws are slow on your system.

Resizing tracks in the Track list

• You can change the height of an individual track by clicking on its lower border in the Track list and dragging up or down.

To change the height of all tracks simultaneously, hold down [Ctrl]/ [Command] and resize one of the tracks in this way. If “Snap Track Heights” is activated on the Track scale pop-up (see below), the track height will change in fixed increments when you resize it.

This behavior is different when “Enlarge Selected Track” is activated on the Edit menu (see below).

•You can also change the width of the Track list area, by dragging the border between the Track list and the event display.

•By default, the controls shown for tracks in the Track list will adapt to the track size. This means that when resizing a track’s height or width the controls will be placed where they best “fit in”.

If you prefer to have the controls in fixed positions, you can deactivate the option “Wrap Controls” in the Track Controls settings dialog (see “Customizing track controls” on page 507).

•You can decide for each track type what controls should be shown in the Track list – see “Customizing track controls” on page 507.

•You can use the Track scale pop-up (opened by clicking the arrow button above the vertical zoom control) to set the number of tracks to view in the current Project window.

The track height will be adjusted to show only the number of tracks specified on the pop-up menu. By selecting “Zoom N Tracks” from the pop-up you can manually set the number of tracks to fit in the current Project window.

The Enlarge Selected Track option

When this option is activated on the Edit menu (or in the Preferences, Editing–Project & Mixer page), the selected track is enlarged automatically. This is useful if you are stepping through the tracks in the track list, to check or edit the settings. The tracks will revert to the size they had before when they are deselected. You can adjust the size directly in the Track list if the default enlargement factor does not suit you.

While this is the program behavior you will want in most cases, it may be a disadvantage when changing the track height you started out with for one or more tracks (i.e. their “original” height, before "Enlarge Selected Track" was activated). As soon as you try to resize a track, it is selected and automatically enlarged. Instead of turning off “Enlarge Selected Track”, resizing the desired track(s) and the activating “Enlarge Selected Track” again, you can resize a track in the Track list without selecting it.

1.Move the mouse pointer over the lower border of the (unselected) track you want to resize.

The mouse pointer turns into a divider symbol.

2.Hold down [Alt]/[Option] and drag the lower border of the track until it reaches the desired height.

Now, when you select this track, (and “Enlarge Selected Track” is activated), it will be enlarged. It will revert to the changed size, when you select a different track.

Zoom presets and Cycle markers

The pop-up menu to the left of the horizontal zoom control allows you to select, create and organize zoom presets. These are useful if you want to toggle between different zoom settings (e.g. one where the whole project is displayed in the project window and another with a high zoom factor for detailed editing). With this pop-up menu, you can also zoom in on the area between cycle markers in the project.

The upper part of the menu lists the zoom presets:

•To store the current zoom setting as a preset, select Add from the pop-up menu.

A dialog appears, allowing you to type in a name for the preset.

•To select and apply a preset, select it from the pop-up menu.

•The “Zoom Full” preset is always available. Selecting this option zooms out so that the whole project is visible. “The whole project” means the timeline from the project start to the length set in the Project Setup dialog (see “The Project Setup dialog” on page 33).

•If you want to delete a preset, select “Organize…” from the pop-up menu.

In the dialog that appears, select the preset in the list and click the Delete button. The preset is removed from the list.

• If you want to rename a preset, select “Organize…” from the pop-up menu.

In the dialog that appears, select the desired preset in the list and click the Rename button. A second dialog opens, allowing you to type in a new name for the preset. Click OK to close the dialogs.

Zoom presets are global for all projects, i.e. they are available in all projects you open or create.

The middle part of the pop-up lists any cycle markers you have added in the project:

•If you select a cycle marker from this menu, the event display is zoomed in to encompass the marker area (see “Zooming to cycle markers” on page 112).

•You cannot edit the cycle markers in this pop-up menu. For information on editing markers, see “The Marker window” on page 110.

Only the cycle markers you create in the current project are available on the menu.

The Zoom history

Nuendo maintains a history of recent zoom stages, allowing you to undo and redo zoom operations. This way you can zoom in several steps and then easily go back to the zoom stage at which you started.

There are two ways to invoke Undo Zoom and Redo Zoom:

•Use the items on the Zoom submenu on the Edit menu.

You can also assign key commands for these.

•Double-click with the Zoom tool (magnifying glass) to Undo Zoom.

Press [Alt]/[Option] and double-click to Redo Zoom.

Adjusting how parts and events are shown

The Preferences on the File menu (the Nuendo menu, under Mac OS X) contains several settings for customizing the display in the Project window.

The Event Display page contains common settings for all track types:

Option Description

Colorize Event Determines whether the backgrounds or “contents” (waveBackground forms, etc.) of parts and events will be colorized. See

“Handling tracks” on page 38.

Show Data on If this is activated, the contents of events and parts will be Small Track shown, even if the height of a track is very small.

Heights

The Event Display–Video page contains settings for video events:

The Event Display–Audio page contains settings for audio events:

The Event Display–MIDI page contains settings for MIDI parts:

when Drum Map assigned will be shown with drum note symbols in the is assigned Project window. Also, the parts will automatically open in (Nuendo Expanthe Drum editor when double-clicked (overriding the De-

Zooming and navigating in the overview line

By clicking the Show Overview button on the toolbar, an extra pane appears under the toolbar; the project overview line.

Show Overview button

In the overview line, events and parts on all tracks are displayed as boxes. You can use the overview line to zoom in or out, and for navigating to other sections of the project. This is done by moving and resizing the track view rectangle in the overview line:

The track view rectangle

•The track view rectangle indicates the section of the project currently displayed in the event display.

•You zoom in or out horizontally by resizing the rectangle.

Resize it by dragging the edges of the rectangle.

•You can drag the track view rectangle to view other sections of the project.

This can also be done by clicking anywhere in the upper part of the overview – the track view rectangle will be moved to where you clicked. The number of tracks shown will not change.

Handling tracks

To add a track to the project, select “Add Track” from the Project menu and select a track type from the submenu that appears. The new track is added below the currently selected track in the Track list.

• The items on the “Add Track” submenu are also available on the Quick menu.

This is accessed by right-clicking in the Track list.

•If you select Audio, MIDI, Group Channel or Instrument from the Add Track submenu, a dialog opens, allowing you to insert several tracks in one go.

Just enter the desired number of tracks in the value field.

•For audio and group channel tracks, the channel configuration – mono, stereo or a surround configuration – can be set in the Configuration pop-up.

•The Browse Sounds option in the Add Track dialog is described in the chapter “Track Presets” on page 327.

•In the Preferences (Editing–Project & Mixer page, you can find the option “Auto Track Color Mode”.

This offers you several options for automatically assigning colors to tracks that are added to the project.

Once you have created tracks, you can manipulate and rearrange them in various ways:

• To rename a track, double-click in the name field and type in a new name.

If you hold down any modifier key when pressing [Return] to close the name field, all events on the track will get the name you entered.

• To select a track, click on it in the Track list.

A selected track is indicated by a light gray color in the Track list.

This track is selected.

It is possible to select several tracks, by pressing [Ctrl]/[Command] and clicking them. To select a continuous range of tracks, use [Shift]-clicking.

•To move a track, click and drag it up or down in the list.

•To duplicate a track, complete with all contents and channel settings, right-click in the Track list and select “Duplicate tracks” from the context menu, or select “Duplicate tracks” from the Project menu.

The duplicated track will appear below the original track.

•You can select a default color for a track by activating “Show Track Colors” above the Track list and selecting a color from the Color pop-up menu on the toolbar. This color will be used for all events on the track and will also be shown in the Mixer. You can override the default track color for individual events and parts by using the Color tool or the Color Selector pop-up menu.

The option “Colorize Event Background” in the Preferences dialog (Event Display page) determines whether the backgrounds or waveforms of events will be colorized.

•To remove a track, right-click on it in the Track list and select “Remove Selected Tracks” from the context menu.

You can also remove multiple selected tracks, by selecting “Remove Selected Tracks” either from the Project menu or from the context menu. Furthermore, you can remove all tracks not containing any events by selecting “Remove Empty Tracks” from the Project menu.

Disabling tracks

Tracks can be disabled by selecting “Disable Track” from the Track list context menu. Disabling a track is similar to muting it (see “Muting events” on page 50), since a disabled track will not be played back. However, disabling a track not only “zeroes” the output volume from the track, but actually shuts down all disk activity for it. See “About track disable/enable” on page 62 for more information.

Track folding

On the Project menu you will find the Track Folding submenu, allowing you to quickly show, hide or invert what is displayed in the Project window event display. This enables you for example to divide the project into several parts (by creating several folder tracks for the different project elements) and showing/hiding their contents by selecting a menu function (or using a key command). You can also fold in automation subtracks this way. The following options are available:

• Toggle Selected Track

When you select this menu option, the fold state of the selected track is reversed, i.e. if the track was folded in (its elements (subtracks) were hidden), it is now unfolded (all subtracks displayed) and vice versa.

• Fold Tracks

Select this menu option to fold in all open folder tracks in the Project window. Please note that the exact behavior of this function depends on the “Deep Track Folding” setting in the Preferences, see below.

• Unfold Tracks

Select this menu option to unfold all folder tracks in the Project window. Please note that the exact behavior of this function depends on the “Deep Track Folding” setting in the Preferences, see below.

• To change the track height of an individual track, click on its lower border in the Track list and drag up or down, see “Resizing tracks in the Track list” on page 35.

Ö Note that you can also automatically enlarge the selected track, see “The Enlarge Selected Track option” on page 35.

• Flip Fold States

Select this menu option to flip the fold states of the tracks in the Project window. This means that all tracks that were folded in will be unfolded and all unfolded tracks will be folded in, respectively.

Ö You can assign key commands for these menu options in the Key Commands dialog (Project category).

In the Preferences (Editing–Project & Mixer page), you can find the following option affecting the track folding behavior:

• Deep Track Folding

When this is activated, any folding settings you make in the Track Folding submenu of the Project menu also affect the sub-elements of the tracks, i.e. if you fold in a folder track which contains 10 audio tracks 5 of which have several automation subtracks open, all these audio tracks within the folder track will be folded in as well.

Dividing the Track list

It is possible to divide the Track list into two parts. Both sections will have independent zoom and scroll controls (if needed), but resizing the window vertically will affect the lower section only (if possible). This is useful if you’re working with a video track along with multi-track audio for example. This way, you can place the video track in the upper Track list, letting you scroll the audio tracks separately in the lower Track list, referencing them against the video track.

• To divide the Track list, click the “Divide Track List” button in the top right corner of the Track list.

The “Divide Track List” button.

• To revert to a single Track list, click the button again.

When the Track list is divided into two parts, the following applies:

•If you add tracks from the Add Track submenu of the Project menu, Video tracks, Marker tracks and Arranger tracks will automatically be placed in the upper part of the Track list.

If the Track list already contains tracks of the type Video, Marker or Arranger, these will automatically be moved to the upper part when you divide the Track list. All other types of tracks will be placed in the lower part.

•If you add tracks from the context menu invoked by right-clicking in the Track list, tracks will be added to the part of the Track list in which you click.

•You can move any type of track from the lower Track list to the upper and vice versa by right-clicking it in the Track list and selecting “Toggle Track List” from the context menu.

•You can resize the upper part by clicking and dragging the divider between the Track lists.

Switching between musical and linear time base

Tracks can be either musical (tempo) or linear (time) based.

•On a track using linear time base, the events will be positioned on specific time positions – changing the playback tempo will not affect the time position of events.

•On a track using musical time base, the positions of events are represented as meter values (bars, beats, 1/16th notes and ticks, with 120 ticks per 1/16th note). If you change the playback tempo, the events will play back at an earlier or later time.

•In the Preferences (Editing page), you can find the option “Default Track Time Type”.

This allows you to specify the default track time type for new tracks (Audio, Group/FX, MIDI and Marker tracks). When you change this setting, all new tracks will use the selected time type. You can choose between “Musical”, “Time Linear” and “Follow Transport Main Display”. Selecting “Musical” will cause all added tracks to be set to musical time type.

When you select “Time Linear”, all new tracks will use linear time base. The third option uses the primary time format setting on the Transport panel. When this is set to “Bars+Beats”, tracks with musical time base will be added. When this is set to any of the other options (Seconds, Timecode, Samples, etc.), all new tracks will use linear time base.

Whether to use musical or linear time base depends on the type of project and recording situation. You can always change this setting individually for each track, by clicking the musical/linear time base button in the Inspector or Track list. Musical time base is indicated by a note symbol, while linear time base is indicated by a clock symbol.

Linear time base selected

Musical time base selected

Internally, events on musical time based tracks use the same high precision for positioning (64 bit floating point values) as linear time based events. However, switching between linear and musical time base results in a very small loss of precision (introduced by the mathematical operations used for scaling values in the two different formats). Therefore you should avoid switching repeatedly between the two modes.

For more information about tempo changes, see “Background” on page 415.

Adding events to a track

There are a number of ways to add events to a track:

•By recording (see “Basic recording methods” on page 65).

This is possible for audio and MIDI tracks.

•By selecting “Audio File…” or “Video File…” from the Import submenu on the File menu.

This opens a file dialog, allowing you to locate the file you wish to import. When you import a file this way, a clip is created for the file and an event that plays the whole clip is inserted on the selected track, at the position of the project cursor.

You can also import MIDI files by using the Import submenu, but this works in a slightly different way (see “Exporting and importing standard MIDI files” on page 498).

•By grabbing audio CD tracks and converting them to audio files (see “Importing audio CD tracks” on page 491).

•By importing only the audio portion of a video file and converting it to an audio file (see “Extracting audio from a video file” on page 472).

•By using Copy and Paste on the Edit menu.

This allows you to copy all kinds of events between projects. You can also copy events within the project, from the Audio Part Editor or Sample Editor.

• By drawing.

Some types of events (markers and automation events) can be drawn directly into the Project window. For audio and MIDI tracks, you can draw parts (see “Creating parts” on page 42).

•By dragging files and dropping them on the track at the desired position.

You can create events by dragging and dropping from the following locations:

•The desktop.

•The MediaBay.

•The Pool.

•A library (a Pool file that is not attached to a project).

•The “Find media” dialog.

•The Project window of another open project.

•The Audio Part Editor of any open project.

•The Sample Editor of any open project – press [Ctrl]/[Command] and drag to create an event of the current selection, or click in the left column of the region list and drag to create an event from a region.

While you drag the clip in the Project window, its position will be indicated by a marker line and a numerical position box. See also “By using drag and drop” on page 302.

Audio file import options

When you are importing audio files there are a number of options concerning how the files should be treated by Nuendo:

•You can choose to copy the file into the audio folder of the project and have the project make reference to the copied file rather than the original file. This helps you keep your project “self-contained”.

•You can choose to split stereo and multi-channel files into a number of mono files.

•Furthermore, you may want all files in the project to have the same sample rate and sample size (resolution).

The Preferences (Editing–Audio page) contains a setting that lets you decide which options, if any, to use. Select the desired option on the “On Import Audio Files” pop-up:

• Open Options Dialog.

An Options dialog appears when you import, allowing you to select whether you want to copy the files to the Audio folder and/or convert them to the project settings. Note:

–When importing a single file of a format other than the project settings, you can specify which properties (sample rate and/or resolution) should be changed.

–When importing multiple files at the same time, you can select to convert the imported files automatically if necessary, i.e. if the sample rate is different than the project’s or the resolution is lower than the project setting.

• Use Settings.

No Options dialog will appear when you import. Instead, you can choose to make any of the options below the pop-up the standard action(s). Activate any number of the following options to have them performed automatically each time you import audio files:

Creating parts

Parts are containers for MIDI or audio events. If you record MIDI, a MIDI part is automatically created, containing the recorded events. You can also create empty audio or MIDI parts and later add events to them. There are two ways to do this:

•Draw a part on a MIDI or audio track with the Pencil tool.

You can also draw parts by pressing [Alt]/[Option] and using the Arrow tool.

•Double-click with the Arrow tool on a MIDI or audio track, between the left and right locator.

To add events to a MIDI part, you use the tools and functions in a MIDI editor (see “The Key Editor – Overview” on page 366). Adding events to audio parts is done in the Audio Part Editor (see “Window overview” on page 291) by pasting or by using drag and drop.

Auditioning audio parts and events

Audio parts and events can be auditioned in the Project window with the Speaker tool:

When auditioning, audio will be routed directly to the Control Room, if the Control Room is activated. When the Control Room is deactivated, the audio will be routed to the default output bus, bypassing the audio channel’s settings, effects and EQs.

1. Select the Play tool.

Note that the Play tool and the Scrub tool share the same tool button. If the tool icon on the toolbar doesn’t show a speaker symbol, first click on the icon to select it, then click again and select “Play” from the pop-up menu that appears.

2.Click where you want playback to start, and keep the mouse button pressed.

Only the track on which you click is played back, starting at the click position.

3.Release the mouse button to stop playback.

Scrubbing

The Scrub tool allows you to locate positions in the audio by playing back, forwards or backwards, at any speed:

1. Select the Scrub tool.

Note that the Play tool and the Scrub tool share the same tool button. If the tool icon on the toolbar doesn’t show a “scrub symbol”, first click on the icon to select it, then click again and select “Scrub” from the pop-up menu that appears.

• You can also gather existing audio events into a part, by using the “Events to Part” function on the Audio menu.

This creates an audio part containing all selected audio events on the same track. To remove the part and make the events appear as independent objects on the track again, select the part and use the “Dissolve Part” function on the Audio menu.

2.Click at the desired position and keep the mouse button pressed.

The project cursor is moved to the position at which you click.

3.Drag to the left or right.

The project cursor follows the mouse pointer and the audio is played back. The speed and pitch of the playback depend on how fast you move the pointer.

You can adjust the responsiveness of the Scrub function in the Preferences (Transport–Scrub page).

Ö It is also possible to “scrub” the whole project with the Jog wheel on the Transport panel.

See “Project scrubbing – the Jog Wheel” on page 62.

• Note that scrubbing can be quite a burden on your system. To avoid playback problems, you will find the “CPU Saving Scrub Mode” option in the Preferences (Trans- port–Scrub page).

When you activate this option, scrubbing will be less demanding on the processor. This can be very useful when scrubbing in a large project, where the “normal” scrub behavior leads to processing overloads. When “CPU Saving Scrub Mode” is activated, the effects are disabled for scrubbing and the resampling quality is lower.

Editing parts and events

This section describes techniques for editing in the Project window. If not explicitly stated, all descriptions apply to both events and parts, even though we use the term “event” for convenience.

Ö When you are using the tools for editing, you can in many cases get additional functions by pressing modifier keys (e.g. pressing [Alt]/[Option] and dragging with the Arrow tool creates a copy of the dragged event).

On the following pages, the default modifier keys are described – you can customize these in the Preferences (Editing–Tool Modifiers page), see “Setting up tool modifier keys” on page 524.

Selecting events

Selecting events is done using any of the following methods:

• Use the Arrow tool.

The standard selection techniques apply.

• Use the Select submenu on the Edit menu.

The options are:

Note that these functions work differently when the Range Selection tool is selected (see “Creating a selection range” on page 52).

•Select all events on a track by right-clicking in its Track list and selecting “Select All Events” from the pop-up menu that appears.

•You can also use the arrow keys on the computer keyboard to select the closest event to the left, right, above or below.

If you press [Shift] and use the arrow keys, the current selection will be kept, allowing you to select several events.

•If the option “Auto Select Events under Cursor” is activated in the Preferences (Editing page), all events on the selected track(s) that are “touched” by the project cursor are automatically selected.

This can be helpful when rearranging your project, since it allows you to select whole sections (on all tracks) by selecting all tracks and moving the project cursor.

•It is also possible to select ranges, regardless of the event and track boundaries.

This is done using the Range Selection tool (see “Range editing” on page 52).

•Note that in the Preferences (Editing page), you can find the option “Use Up/Down Navigation Commands for selecting Tracks only”.

By default, tracks are selected with the up/down arrow keys on the computer keyboard. However, these are also used for selecting events (see above) which can lead to confusing results in some cases. Since track selection is a most vital operation in both editing and mixing, you have the option to use the navigation controls for track selection only. The following applies:

•When this option is deactivated and no event/part is selected in the Project window, the up/down arrow keys on the computer keyboard are used to step through the tracks in the Track list – just as you would expect this to work.

•When this option is deactivated and an event/part is selected in the Project window, the up/down arrow keys still step through the tracks in the Track list – but on the currently selected track, the first event/part will automatically be selected as well. If this is not the desired behavior, you have to activate “Use Up/Down Navigation Commands for selecting Tracks only”.

•When this option is activated, the up/down arrow keys are only used to change the track selection – the current event/ part selection in the Project window will not be altered.

•Also in the Preferences (Editing–Tools page), you can find the Cross Hair Cursor options section.

This allows you to display a cross hair cursor when working in the Project window and editors, facilitating navigation and editing, especially when arranging in large projects. You can set up the colors for the line and the mask of the cross hair cursor, and define its width. The cross hair cursor works as follows:

•When the Selection tool (or one of its subtools) is selected, the cross hair cursor appears when you start moving/copying a part/event, or when using the event trim handles.

•When the Pencil tool, the Scissors tool or any other tool that makes use of this function is selected, the cross hair cursor appears as soon as you move the mouse over the event display.

•The cross hair cursor is only available for tools where such a function is of any use. The Mute tool for example does not use a cross hair cursor, as you have to click directly on an event to mute it.

Moving events

To move events in the Project window, use the following methods:

• Click and drag to a new position.

All selected events will be moved, maintaining their relative positions. You can only drag events to tracks of the same type. If Snap is activated, this determines to which positions you can move the events (see “Snap” on page 55).

Note also that you can restrict movement to be either horizontal or vertical only, by holding down [Ctrl]/[Command] while dragging.

You will note that there is a slightly delayed response when you move an event by dragging. This helps you avoid accidentally moving events when you click on them in the Project window. You can adjust this delay with the Drag Delay setting in the Preferences (Editing page).

•Select the event and edit the Start position in the info line.

•Use the “Move to” functions on the Edit menu.

The following functions are available:

• Use the Nudge buttons in the toolbar.

These move the selected events to the left or right. The amount of movement depends on the selected display format (see “The Project Setup dialog” on page 33) and the value set on the Grid pop-up menu.

2. With the range selection tool selected, point on an audio event or part, press one of the modifiers listed in the table below and click.

The mouse pointer will change its shape and the audio event or part will be aligned to the selected range.

Here, clicking this button will move the event 2 frames to the right.

When the Range Selection tool is used, the Nudge buttons move the selection range (see “Moving and duplicating” on page 54).

Ö The Nudge buttons are not visible in the toolbar by default.

You can decide which items should be visible by right-clicking in the toolbar and checking them in the pop-up menu that appears. See “The Setup dialogs” on page 506 for more information.

Aligning events

Nuendo provides shortcuts to quickly align audio events and parts in the project window. You can align to selected parts, events or ranges or to the cursor.

When the snap point is set, it will be used as a reference when you align events.

To align audio events or parts to selected parts or events, proceed as follows:

1.Select an event or part of any type on any track.

This will be taken as a reference for aligning.

2.With the arrow tool selected, point on the audio event or part you want to move, press one of the modifiers listed in the table below and click.

The mouse pointer will change its shape and the audio event or part will be aligned to the selected part or event.

To align audio events or parts to selection ranges, proceed as follows:

1. Make a selection range on any track.

This will be taken as a reference for aligning.

Note that the functions depend on where you point with the mouse.

In both cases, the following modifiers are available:

You can also align audio events or parts to the project cursor. This is done in the following way:

1.Set the cursor to the position where you want to move the audio part or event.

This will be taken as a reference for aligning.

2.Make sure that nothing is selected in your project.

3.With the arrow tool selected, point on the audio event or part you want to move, press one of the modifiers listed in the table below and click.

The mouse pointer will change its shape and the audio event or part will be aligned to the cursor.

Duplicating events

Events can be duplicated in the following ways:

• Hold down [Alt]/[Option] and drag the event to a new position.

If Snap is activated, this determines to which positions you can copy the events (see “Snap” on page 55).

If you hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] as well, movement direction is restricted to either horizontal or vertical. That means if you drag an event vertically it can not be moved horizontally at the same time.

For aligning audio events or parts to the cursor, the following modifiers are available:

• Audio and MIDI parts can also be duplicated by pressing [Alt]/[Option] + [Shift] and dragging.

This creates a shared copy of the part. If you edit the contents of a shared copy, all other shared copies of the same part are automatically edited in the same way.

Ö You can change the modifiers in the Preferences dialog (Editing–Tool Modifiers page).

Shared copies are indicated by an icon in the right corner of the part.

Note:

•When you duplicate audio events, the copies are always shared. This means that shared copies of audio events always refer to the same audio clip (see “Audio processing” on page 239).

•You can convert a shared copy to a real copy by selecting “Convert to Real Copy” from the Edit menu. This creates a new version of the clip (that can be edited independently) and adds this to the Pool. Note that no new files are created by this operation – for that you need to use the “Bounce Selection” function from the Audio menu (see “Exporting regions as audio files” on page 308).

•Selecting “Duplicate” from the Edit menu creates a copy of the selected event and places it directly after the original.

If several events are selected, all of these are copied “as one unit”, maintaining the relative distance between the events.

•Selecting “Repeat…” from the Edit menu opens a dialog, allowing you to create a number of copies (regular or shared) of the selected event(s).

This works just like the Duplicate function, but you can specify the number of copies.

• You can also perform the Repeat function by dragging: Select the event(s) to repeat, press [Alt]/[Option], click the handle in the lower right corner of the last selected event and drag to the right.

The longer to the right you drag, the more copies are created (as shown by the tooltip).

• Selecting “Fill Loop” from the Edit menu creates a number of copies starting at the left locator and ending at the right locator.

The last copy is automatically shortened to end at the right locator position.

Using Cut, Copy and Paste

You can cut or copy selected events, and paste them in again, using the functions on the Edit menu.

•When you paste an event it is inserted on the selected track, positioned so that its snap point is aligned with the cursor position.

If the selected track is of the wrong type, the event will be inserted on its original track. See “Snap” on page 55 for information about the snap point.

•If you use the “Paste at Origin” function, the event is pasted at its original position (the position from which you cut or copied it).

Using Cut Head and Cut Tail

You can cut everything to the left or right of the cursor or a selected range:

•If you use “Cut Head”, everything to the left of the cursor/selection range will be deleted. No data will be kept in the clipboard.

•If you use “Cut Tail”, everything to the right of the cursor/selection range will be deleted. No data will be kept in the clipboard.

Renaming events

By default, audio events show the name of their clip, but you can enter a separate descriptive name for separate events if you like. This is done by selecting the event and typing in a new name in the “Description” field in the info line, or by using the Rename Object command from the Edit menu.

•You can also give all events on a track the same name as the track by changing the track name, holding down a modifier key and pressing [Return].

See “Handling tracks” on page 38.

•The Rename Objects command is useful when renaming multiple events at the same time. Select one or more events. Then choose “Rename…” from the Edit menu. You have several options for renaming events automatically using sequential numbers, timestamps and more (see “Renaming clips or regions in the Pool” on page 300).

Splitting events

You can split events in the Project window in the following ways:

•Click with the Scissors tool on the event you want to split.

If Snap is activated, this determines the exact split position (see “Snap” on page 55). You can also split events by pressing [Alt]/[Option] and clicking with the Arrow tool.

•Select “Split at Cursor” from the Edit menu.

This splits the selected events at the position of the project cursor. If no events are selected, all events (on all tracks) that are intersected by the project cursor will be split.

• Select “Split Loop” from the Edit menu.

This splits events on all tracks at the left and right locator positions.

Ö If you split a MIDI part so that the split position intersects one or several MIDI notes, the result depends on the option “Split MIDI Events” in the Preferences (Editing– MIDI page).

If the option is activated, the intersected notes will be split (creating new notes at the beginning of the second part). If it is deactivated, the notes will remain in the first part, but “stick out” after the end of the part.

Gluing events together

You can glue events together using the Glue Tube tool. There are three possibilities:

•Clicking on an event with the Glue Tube tool glues it together with the next event on the track. The events do not have to touch one another.

The result is a part containing the two events, with one exception: If you first split an event and then glue the two sections together again (without moving or editing them first), they become a single event again.

•You can select several events on the same track and click on one of them with the Glue Tube tool.

A single part is created.

•When you hold down [Alt]/[Option] while clicking on an event with the Glue Tube tool, this event will be glued together with all following events on this track.

You can change the default key command for this in the Preferences (Editing–Tool Modifiers page).

Resizing events

Resizing events means to move their start or end positions individually. In Nuendo, there are three types of resizing:

To select one of the resizing modes, select the Arrow tool and then click again on the Arrow tool icon on the toolbar. This opens a pop-up menu from which you can select one of the resizing mode options.

The icon on the toolbar will change, indicating the selected resizing mode.

The actual resizing is done by clicking and dragging the lower left or right corner of the event. If Snap is activated, the Snap value determines the resulting length (see “Snap” on page 55).

Normal sizing.

Sizing moves contents.

•If several events are selected, all will be resized in the same way.

•You can also resize events with the Scrub tool.

This works just the same as when resizing with the Arrow tool, but the audio under the pointer is played back (scrubbed) while you drag.

• It is also possible to resize events by using the Trim buttons (located in the Nudge palette) on the toolbar.

This will move the start or end position of the selected Event(s) by the amount set on the Grid pop-up menu. The sizing type currently selected applies to this method too, with the exception of “Sizing Applies Time Stretch” which is not possible with this method. You can also use key commands for this (by default, press [Ctrl]/[Command] and use the left and right arrow key).

Ö Note that the Nudge palette is not visible in the toolbar by default. See “The Setup dialogs” on page 506 for instructions on how to show and hide items in the toolbar.

Resizing events using time stretch

If you want to resize a part and make its contents “fit” the new size, you should use this option. Proceed as follows:

1.Click the Arrow icon on the toolbar and select the “Sizing Applies Time Stretch” option from the pop-up menu.

2.Point close to the end point of the part you want to stretch.

3.Click and drag left or right.

When you move the mouse, a tooltip shows the current mouse position and length of the part. Note that the snap value applies, as with any part operation.

4. Release the mouse button.

The part is “stretched” or “compressed” to fit the new length.

•For MIDI parts, this means that the note events are stretched (moved and resized).

Controller data will be moved.

•For audio parts, this means that the events are moved, and that the referenced audio files are time stretched to fit the new length.

A dialog box shows the progress of the time stretch operation.

Ö You can adjust which algorithm should be used for the time stretch algorithm in the Preferences (Editing–Audio page).

For more information about time stretch, see “Time Stretch” on page 248.

Sliding the contents of an event or part

You can move the contents of an event or part without changing its position in the Project window. By default, this is done by pressing [Alt]/[Option]+[Shift], clicking in the event or part and dragging to the left or right.

When sliding the contents of an audio event, you cannot slide past the start or end of the actual audio clip. If the event plays the whole clip, you cannot slide the audio at all.

Grouping Events

Sometimes it is useful to treat several events as one unit. This can be done by grouping them: Select the events (on the same or different Tracks) and select “Group” from the Edit menu.

Group editing operations include:

•Selecting events.

•Moving and duplicating events.

•Resizing events.

•Adjusting fade-in and fade-out (audio events only, see “Creating fades” on page 87).

•Splitting events (splitting one event will automatically split any other grouped events that are intersected by the split position).

•Locking events.

•Muting events (see below).

•Deleting events.

Locking events

If you want to make sure you don’t edit or move an event by accident, you can lock it. Locking can affect one (or any combination) of the following properties:

• To specify which of these properties should be affected by the Lock function, use the “Lock Event Attributes” popup menu in the Preferences (Editing page).

• To lock events, select them and select “Lock…” from the Edit menu.

The events will be locked according to the options specified in the Preferences.

The padlock symbol indicates that one or more of the lock options are activated for the event.

•You can adjust the lock options for a locked event by selecting it and selecting “Lock…” from the Edit menu again.

This opens a dialog in which you can activate or deactivate the desired lock options.

•To unlock an event (turn off all lock options), select it and select “Unlock” from the Edit menu.

•It is also possible to lock a whole track, by clicking the padlock symbol in the Track list or in the Inspector.

This disables all editing of all events on the track.

Muting events

To mute individual events in the Project window, proceed as follows:

•To mute or unmute a single event, click on it with the Mute tool.

•To mute or unmute several events, select them – either by using the standard selection techniques, or by using one of the options on the Select submenu on the Edit menu – and click on one of the selected events with the Mute tool.

All selected events will be muted.

•You can also click in an empty area with the Mute tool and drag a selection rectangle around several events you want to mute or unmute, and then click on one of them with the Mute tool.

•You can mute events by selecting them and selecting “Mute” from the Edit menu.

Similarly, you can unmute the selected events by selecting “Unmute” from the Edit menu.

•You can also change the mute status of selected events on the info line.

Muted events can be edited as usual (with the exception of adjusting fades), but are not played back.

Muted events are “grayed out”.

• You can also mute whole tracks by clicking the Mute (“M”) button in the Track list, the Inspector or the mixer.

Clicking the Solo (“S”) button for a track mutes all other tracks. Note that there are two modes for the track solo function:

If the option “Enable Solo on Selected Track” is activated in the Preferences (Editing–Project & Mixer page) and you have soloed a track, selecting another track in the track list will automatically solo that track instead – the solo state “moves” with the track selection.

If the option isn’t activated, the track you solo stays soloed, regardless of the selection.

Removing events

To remove an event from the Project window, use any of the following methods:

• Click on the event with the Eraser tool.

Note that if you press [Alt]/[Option] while you click, all following events on the same track will be deleted, but not the event you clicked and all events before it.

• Select the event(s) and press [Backspace], or select “Delete” from the Edit menu.

Creating new files from events

An audio event plays a section of an audio clip, which in turn refers to one or more audio files on the hard disk. However, in some situations you may want to create a new file that consists only of the section played by the event. This is done with the function “Bounce Selection” on the Audio menu:

1.Select one or several audio events.

2.Set up fade in, fade out and event volume (on the info line or using the volume handle) as desired.

These settings will be applied to the new file. For details on fades and event volume, see “Creating fades” on page 87.

3.Select “Bounce Selection” from the Audio menu.

You are asked whether you want to replace the selected event or not.

•If you click “Replace”, a new file is created, containing only the audio in the original event. A clip for the new file is added to the Pool, and the original event is replaced by a new event playing the new clip.

•If you click “No”, a new file is created and a clip for the new file is added to the Pool.

The original event is not replaced.

You can also apply the Bounce Selection function to an audio part. In that case, the audio from all events in the part will be combined into a single audio file. If you choose “Replace” when asked, the part will be replaced with a single audio event playing a clip of the new file.

Editing in Lane Display mode

When you are recording in Stacked cycle recording mode, each take ends up on a separate lane on the track, see “Recording audio in Stacked mode” on page 75 and “Cycle Record mode: Stacked/Stacked 2 (No Mute)” on page 80. However, you can also select this lane mode manually for individual tracks, and use it when editing in the Project window. This makes it easier to view and handle overlapping events and parts.

Audio tracks

1. In the Track list or in the Inspector for the selected track, click the Lane Display Type button and select “Lanes Fixed” from the pop-up menu.

The audio track is divided vertically into two lanes. By default, all audio events end up in the first (top) lane.

2. Now you can move events or parts between lanes, either by dragging or by using the “Move to Next Lane/Previous Lane” commands on the Edit menu or Quick menu.

Note that if there are overlapping audio events, the audio on the lowest lane has playback priority – moving events between lanes affects what will be heard!

If the vertical zoom factor is sufficiently high, the sections that will be heard on playback are indicated in green.

• Note that there will always be an extra, empty lane at the bottom of the track – moving an event there always will add another lane.

Depending on the number of lanes used, you may want to adjust the vertical zoom for the track – simply drag the track edges in the track list.

3.After rearranging the overlapping events so that you hear what you want, you can select all events and select “Delete Overlaps” from the Advanced submenu on the Audio menu.

This puts all events in the top lane and resizes events so that overlapping sections are removed.

4.To turn off Lanes mode, select “Lanes Off” from the Lane Display Type pop-up menu.

If you do this without using the “Delete Overlaps” function, all overlapping sections will be kept. However, the sections that were green will now be the sections visible (“on top”) and thus the sections that will be heard.

MIDI tracks

1. In the Track list or in the Inspector for the selected track, click the Lane Display Type button and select “Lanes Auto” or “Lanes Fixed”.

2. Click the Lane Display Type button and select “Lanes Auto” or “Lanes Fixed”.

3.You can edit the overlapping parts as usual – by cutting, deleting or muting sections in the Project window or by opening them in a MIDI editor.

In an editor, parts on different lanes will be treated just like parts on different tracks – you can use the part list pop-up menu to select an active part for editing, etc.

Note that there is no playback priority between lanes on a MIDI track – all unmuted parts will be heard during playback.

4.To merge all overlapping parts into one, make sure the MIDI track is selected, position the left and right locator around the parts and select “Merge MIDI in Loop” from the MIDI menu.

In the dialog that appears, activate the Erase Destination option and click OK. This merges all unmuted MIDI between the locators to a single part.

5.To turn off Lanes mode, select “Lanes Off” from the Lane Display Type pop-up menu.

Range editing

Editing in the Project window isn’t necessarily restricted to handling whole events and parts. You can also work with selection ranges, which are independent from the event/part and track boundaries.

Creating a selection range

To make a selection range, drag with the Range Selection tool.

•In Lanes Auto mode, extra lanes will automatically be added where necessary – if two MIDI parts overlap, they will automatically be put on separate lanes.

•In Lanes Fixed mode, you have to move MIDI parts between lanes manually (by dragging them or by using the “Move to Next Lane/Previous Lane” commands on the Edit menu or Quick menu).

When the Range Selection tool is selected, the Select submenu on the Edit menu has the following items for making selection ranges:

• By using the Trim buttons on the toolbar.

The left Trim buttons will move the start of the selection range and the right buttons will move the end. The edges will be moved by the amount specified on the Grid pop-up.

Clicking this Trim button…

• Double-clicking on an event with the Range Selection tool creates a selection range encompassing the event.

If you hold down [Shift] you can double-click several events in a row, and the selection range will expand to encompass them all. Double-clicking a second time on an event opens it for editing in the Sample Editor.

Adjusting the size of the selection range

You can adjust the size of a selection range in the following ways:

• By dragging its edges.

The pointer takes the shape of a double arrow when you move it over an edge of the selection range.

• By holding down [Shift] and clicking.

The closest selection range edge will be moved to the position at which you clicked.

• By adjusting the selection range start or end position on the info line.

…will move the start of the selection range to the right by 1beat.

• By using the Nudge buttons on the toolbar.

These will move the whole selection range to the left or the right. The amount of movement depends on the selected display format (see “The Project Setup dialog” on page 33) and the value specified on the Grid pop-up menu.

Note that the contents of the selection are not moved – using the Nudge buttons is the same as adjusting the start and end of the selection range at the same time, by the same amount.

Ö The Trim buttons and the Nudge buttons are located in the Nudge palette, which is not visible in the toolbar by default.

See “The Setup dialogs” on page 506 for instructions on how to show and hide items in the toolbar.

Making selection ranges for several non-contiguous tracks

You can create selection ranges that cover several tracks by pressing [Alt]/[Option]+[Shift]. However, it is also possible to exclude tracks from a selection range:

1.Create a selection range from the first to the last desired track.

2.Press [Alt]/[Option] and click in the selection range on the tracks you want to exclude from the selection.

3. In the same manner, you can add a track to the selection range by [Alt]/[Option]-clicking in the selection range area on the track.

Moving and duplicating

•To move a selection range, click and drag it to a new position.

This will move the contents of the selection range to the new position. If the range intersected events or parts, these will be split before moving, so that only the sections within the selection range are affected.

•To duplicate a selection range, hold down [Alt]/[Option] and drag.

You can also use the Duplicate, Repeat and Fill Loop functions, just as when duplicating events (see “Aligning events” on page 45).

Using Cut, Copy and Paste

When working with selection ranges, you can either use Cut, Copy and Paste on the Edit menu, or use the functions “Cut Time” and “Paste Time” on the Range submenu on the Edit menu. These work differently to their related functions on the Edit menu:

Deleting selection ranges

Again, you can either use “regular” Delete or “Delete Time”:

•If you use the Delete function on the Edit menu (or press [Backspace]), the data within the selection range is replaced by empty track space.

Events to the right of the range keep their position.

•If you use “Delete Time” on the Edit menu’s Range submenu, the selection range is removed and events to the right are moved to the left to close up the gap.